A Talk With Rick Telander Who Ruminates on the Marvin Hagler That He Knew

Published

3 years ago

March 13, 2022

Rick Assad

Sunday, March 13, marked the first anniversary of the death of Marvelous Marvin Hagler who was 66 when he passed away at his home in Bartlett, New Hampshire. During a 14-year career as a pro that began in 1973, Hagler had 67 professional fights, winning 62 with three defeats and two draws with 52 wins coming via knockout or stoppage.

Hagler experienced many highs and a few lows, one of which truly stood out. The date was April 6, 1987 and the site was Caesars Palace in Las Vegas when he took on Sugar Ray Leonard, who over the course of 12 rounds, edged Hagler on a split decision.

As it turned out, this would be the last time Hagler, the undisputed middleweight champion from 1980 through 1987, would step into a ring, and it surprised many.

Three years later, Rick Telander, then with Sports Illustrated, paid Hagler a visit in Milan, Italy, where he was living and working.

Telander’s story appeared in the July 2, 1990, issue with Hagler smiling on the cover and the headline blaring “It’s A Marvelous Life” and the subhead reading “Pugilist-Turned-Actor Marvin Hagler At Home In Milan – Far Away From Sugar Ray.”

On the surface, and according to Telander, Hagler seemed at peace with his life. “He was making the best of that necessary transition, that little death we all athletes must experience – the end of a career or dream that is based on and dependent on one’s youth,” he said.

That middleweight clash with two belts on the line was razor close and had some ringside observers siding with Hagler and others favoring Leonard.

Judge Lou Filippo had Hagler winning 115-113 while Dave Moretti scored it 115-113 in favor of Leonard. The most lopsided score came from JoJo Guerra, who had Leonard claiming a 118-110 victory.

Ron Borges of the Boston Globe, ESPN’s Al Bernstein, Jerry Izenberg of the Newark Star-Ledger, and Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated were among those sitting close to the action who scored the fight for Hagler. They all had it 115-113.

Those who felt Leonard won included ABC’s Howard Cosell and Michael Katz of the New York Daily News. Both had it 117-112.

Others who gave Leonard the decision were Sports Illustrated’s William Nack (116-114) and Gil Clancy of CBS (115-113).

Some saw it deadlocked including HBO’s Larry Merchant and Dave Anderson of the New York Times. Each had it 114-114. Because so many at ringside had differing views, it’s clear the fight could have gone to either man.

In all likelihood, Hagler, born in Newark, New Jersey, and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts, had enough talent, skill and determination that he could have continued to box and perhaps avenge that setback to Leonard. In fact, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum offered Hagler a minimum of $15 million for a rematch, but Hagler declined.

What is Rick Telander’s sense of why there wasn’t a second fight?

“That remains a mystery. It is possible he actually was content with quitting boxing, with moving on to a new life, a new career, a wholly new chapter in a new land,” he offered. “And money had nothing to do with it. Some people must be like that. It seems improbable. Freddie Roach once told me no boxer he ever trained – including, of course, himself – ever left as champion. Perhaps Hagler truly was at peace with his legacy and ambition. It’s also possible he knew he was done as a fighter, that he could never beat Leonard or these “pretty boy” fighters coming along.”

Telander, the lead sports columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, continued: “I could never tell,” he said. “And I think those that make a declaration about his intentions and mental state are only speculating, devising judgment from their own states of mind and extrapolations.”

Still, having to live with that loss, a fight Hagler believed he won, had to have played with his ego?

“I know it was a heavy burden on him. It was the end, or the start, or something powerful in his life,” Telander said. “He never went back. Never turned around. Never said he’d kill Leonard in a rematch, never boasted. He just left the fight game. That is some kind of catalyst.”

Telander, who has had eight stories included in the Best American Sports Writing anthologies and was the 2020 recipient of the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting, said Hagler seemed to enjoy interacting with people he would meet in Italy.

Had Hagler in fact gone from fierce warrior to gentle soul practically overnight?

“I don’t think he was a changed man. I think for the most part he was always that way. I think a kind of “split personality’’ in athletes in violent sports is way more common than most fans and observers know,” said Telander, a one-time football standout at Northwestern University who was drafted in 1971 by the Kansas City Chiefs in the eighth round.

“I know lots of football players, linebackers, headhunters and the like, who are vicious, what we might call “killers” on the field but are pussycats off it. The athletes who can’t turn aggression off, or who are only brutal and nasty in life and everywhere, who aren’t able to socialize themselves – those are the ones who get in trouble. Our prisons are filled with them. It’s a very thin line to walk. The best do it naturally. Others must work at it. I think Hagler, like many boxers, realized the ring was his special place to become that other thing, and outside it he could turn the rage off.

I could be wrong. George Foreman had a seeming personality change – from a nasty, nonverbal thug to a smiling sweet guy – near the end of his youthful career. Then he got back in the ring and could be aging George Foreman with an attitude, while selling grills on the side. Hagler, I feel, had that in him too. He just never re-entered the ring.”

Was it better that Hagler left the big stage fully intact and with a brain that still functioned?

“He may have gotten out to keep his wits intact. Leonard shocked him – he says he never was hurt, and he likely was not. But Leonard also may have shown him how close he was to a serious disaster,” Telander said. “He didn’t know about CTE back then, but he certainly knew about pugilistica dementia – ‘punch drunk.’’’ Old, pitiable, punch-drunk boxers were everywhere.”

Telander, the author or co-author of 10 books including the classic “Heaven Is A Playground,” has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, but said Hagler is one of his favorites.

Telander

“I’d put him right near the very top, maybe at the top. That is because I talked to him when he was in an entirely different country, speaking a different language, in a different craft than the one he’d utilized to become rich and famous,” he said. “He was a different thing. He was reborn.

He was, in certain lights, a loser on the run. In other ways, he was a big winner on a new adventure. He was in control of his new life, and for many ex-athletes, that is rare.”

Like so many, Telander is torn between the violence in boxing and whether it belongs in a civilized society.

“Boxing is a paradox for me. I think it’s terrible and should be banned (like MMA) – attempting to kill another man’s body and/or brain – what can be right about that? But still I like, even at times love, the sport,” he said. “It shouldn’t be that way. It’s embarrassing to feel this way. But it is such a difficult, primitive, beautiful, hideous, fascinating sport – what can I say?”

Regardless of how one feels on this issue, the manly sport, although often cruel and certainly unforgiving, can also save individuals like Hagler and so many others from a life of poverty and ruin.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Rick Assad

Up Next

Should Russian Boxers Be Barred from Competing? Results of a New TSS Survey

Don't Miss

The Hauser Report: Dmitry Bivol Should Not Be Allowed to Fight Canelo Alvarez

Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

3 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Skylar-Lacy-Blocked-for-Lamar-Jackson-Before-Making-his-Mark-in-Boxing

Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

4 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Mizuki-Hiruta-Dominates-in-her-U.S.-Debut-and-Trinidad-Wins-Too-at-Commerce

Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

6 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!